Please help resolve an argument

I’ve concluded that anything in a can or a keg has a synthetic, fizzy element to it that i just cant get on with. But if its in a cask (pub) or bottle (home) its much more enjoyable.

My dyed in the wool weirdy beardy CAMRA buddy was of the same view but he's now a convert to keg, especially some of the fruit flavoured ones.

We should be celebrating what a great range of beers there are for every taste and even for my niche of gluten free beers I'm blown away by how much choice there is. Spitting Feathers brewery just outside Chester do 100% GF beers and also have one of the best pubs in Chester to showcase their work at The Brewery Tap

Am I the only person who laments the loss of traditional bitters, especially session bitters, and their replacement with over-hopped IPAs that taste like gone off squash?

Nope.

I love a bitter and on the rare occasion these days there is a bitter on draught in a pub, I will always choose it. I quite like a mild too. It’s not just IPAs, it’s the proliferation of ‘golden ales’ which are invariably thin and tasteless or have an overpowering ‘floral’ flavour which is gipping. I don’t mind a hoppy IPA, but it’s been done to death with a thousand (slight) variations.

Couldn't agree more.

We should be celebrating what a great range of beers there are for every taste

But that's the problem. Bitter has been crowded out by (often) three or four variations of IPA, all tasting the same, and all ridiculously strong to prove what a good brewer the brewer is.

I don't object to an IPA being available. I do object to nothing but IPA and lager being available.

I’ve had the Club Tropicana. It’s extremely fruity, but quite watery, and lacks any body at all. It’s strange also in that, at 5.5% abv, you’d expect a significant inebriation effect, but this acts more like a 3.5% session ale. 

I've just seen in the shop that it is now 5%abv

I can only assume they read my post, retested and found it was weaker than advertised

To completely ignore the thread title...my elder son is Sam so, several years ago, I started giving him Samichlaus - claimed to be brewed only on December 6th - and branded glasses to match.
For the avoidance of doubt, he was >18 when I started.
Both he and I got a bit bored with that so...I then moved to the seasonal Elf beers from Ridgeway - Elf beer (2 versions), very bad Elf, seriously bad Elf, criminally bad Elf; accompanied by Lump of Coal, Santa's Butt, Reindeer Droppings, Reindeer's Revolt and Warm Welcome. Insanely bad Elf seems to have disappeared from the line-up.
Have now stopped that because it's not good for your 'ealth.
Thinking about moving to 'flights' of wine but that could become horribly expensve.

And going off at another tangent, Raging Bitch - if only for the Ralph Steadman label.

I run a monthly beer tasting where we sample 8 quality beers and vote for our favourite. December session sees us take the favourite beers of the year and choose the beer of the year.
Here’s this Saturday’s lineup. The format lends itself to some whoppers, but this year has some surprisingly sedate offerings. My money is on the Straffe Hendrik Quadruple winning. Phwoooooaaaarrrr.